HousingWireHousingWire
New-home sales have been a bright spot in housing markets across the country that have been struggling for years with high mortgage rates and low inventory.
But the benefits of newly built homes are spread unevenly, as markets in the South tend to have more construction than other regions. A new report from Consumer Affairs combines data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Zillow to find which cities have the most new-construction activity and sales.
Many of the top markets in March were — unsurprisingly — in Texas. Houston, which has fewer land-use regulations than most cities, ranked first in both permits and sales of newly built homes at 11,047 and 1,314, respectively.
Dallas is second in permits and fifth in sales. San Antonio is fourth in sales, while Austin is ninth in permits and eighth in sales.
Tampa and Orlando are tops among markets in Florida, which has also consistently had high levels of construction. These two cities specifically are recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Milton in October.
That could be a driver of building permits. Orlando ranked fourth in March in permits issued at 5,936 and Tampa ranked eighth with 3,945.
New construction in Texas and Florida comes as both states are seeing a drop in market activity. Both states were among the hottest during the post-pandemic period but have since entered into territory that might suggest home-price corrections.
A recent HousingWire analysis found that of the 10 metro markets with the most inventory per capita, six were in Texas and Florida — led by San Antonio and followed by Jacksonville, Houston, Austin, Dallas and Tampa.
The most surprising city in the top 10 is New York, which ranks third in building permits with 6,307. The Big Apple has notoriously strict land-use restrictions that critics say stymie efforts to build more housing that the city desperately needs. New York is the only city in the top 10 that’s located outside of the Sun Belt.
According to Consumer Affairs, changes to zoning policy in 2024 are expected to produce 82,000 newly built homes in New York over the next 15 years.
​
